the return to love with perspective
by champion lyra
Summary: Nine months later, Yusaku and Ryoken meet again. —DataStormShipping, RyokenYusaku. For YugiohSecretSanta 2019!


**Notes**

A bit late on posting, sorry about that! I really hope you enjoy this anyways! This was for the **yugiohsecretsanta **over on tumblr, for tumblr user **rxvclver**! I've seen them around before on AO3, so I hope they like this! I didn't get any prompts besides the pairings, so I decided to go for some good old post-canon hurt/comfort with a tiny bit of angst~ Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!

* * *

Nine months.

It had been nine full months since Fujiki Yusaku had logged out of the network for more than just an hour a day; whether it be to sleep or relieve himself. Since hugging Ai's SOLtis body close to his chest and screaming out for his lost friend, he'd only had one drive, one motivation, one thing keeping him up through never-ending hours of the day.

_Ai. _

Once upon a time, Yusaku had been healing. He'd been learning how to connect with others - mostly thanks to both Kogami Ryoken and Ai suddenly becoming permanent fixtures in his life - and some days, the world didn't seem like the only thing in it was his trauma. When Kogami Kiyoshi had fallen, his revenge was over, and the months before Ai departed from his life was Yusaku learning to live with that reality.

Takeru, Flame, Kusanagi, and even _Aoi _had slowly become less "useful allies" and more "people he genuinely wanted to be happy". Ryoken, still the most important person in Yusaku's mind, had always been on that side of his thoughts, but the fact that other people were slowly joining his position was something he had never thought possible.

And, of course, there was Ai.

Ai, who had once been nothing more than a hostage to figure out the details of the Lost Incident. Ai, who had annoyed him on a daily basis, and Yusaku only permitted to stay around because he was connected to his past in some way, though he didn't yet know how.

Ai, who had went from using _him _as a bargaining tool to save his home world and his friends to his friend. His trusted partner. Who just like that, vanished right in front of his eyes, after telling Yusaku three words he had never heard in his entire life:

_I loved you_.

Now, though, nine months had passed. Nine months of searching, with little hope other than his need to see his mission through. Nine months of no contact with anyone; not Kusanagi, not Takeru, not even _Ryoken_ who had reached out a handful of times.

That one had hurt Yusaku's heart more than a little.

But finally, for the first time since his last duel, Fujiki Yusaku logged out of Link VRAINS with the intention of staying out of the system for more than just a few moments of reprieve. Sitting in his duel disk as he moved out of his VR room was an eyeball; fragmented code of Ai, but it was still _Ai_.

His mission was finally over.

* * *

He spent the first few days reintroducing his body to the real world, and reintroducing Ai to everything. His code had been destroyed, but he was still functional, and while Ai couldn't remember much of anything, Yusaku still wanted to get him comfortable for the time being. His hope was to be able to restore his memories once more, but he wasn't sure how realistic it was.

Part of him hated the fact that he might be the only one out of the two to remember, but Yusaku could learn to live with it. It was certainly better than the alternative.

"Promise me," Yusaku said to Ai, a few nights after they had returned from Link VRAINS. "Promise me that even if you don't remember, we can try to become friends again."

Throughout the last few nights, Ai had clearly understood the seriousness of everything, but in true Ai-fashion, hadn't known how to react. All the things that had happened to Ai, like losing the rest of the Ignis and even _Roboppy_ had worn on him, back then. Now, reset like this without memory of his trauma, he'd been just as goofy as Yusaku had remembered when they first connected.

For whatever reason, though, the eyeball blinked at him in surprise. "Aren't we already friends?" Ai asked, curious. "We've spent the last few days together, Yusaku! I feel like that makes us friends, even if _Ai _don't remember you."

For the second time over this AI, this miracle of an AI that had stemmed from his own thoughts and feelings, Yusaku cried in earnest.

* * *

After nine months, it was hard to believe what was in front of his eyes. Days had blurred into weeks had blurred into months, but still, Yusaku Fujiki - the boy known as Playmaker - had not come back home. Ryoken had been steadfast in his refusal to give up hope, but he had been growing tired.

When they'd had their last duel, on the top of the Tower of Hanoi, Ryoken had taken off, uncaring of the consequences or how they might effect the boy he'd left behind for a second time. Before that very same boy had dueled Ai, on that fateful night, he'd sped off again after saying goodbye; convinced that it would be the last time they would see each other.

Somehow, Ryoken had never expected Yusaku to be the one to take off. He'd never expected to be the one stuck searching, almost _longing _in a way that made his skin burn when he thought about it. Part of him almost regretted taking off on that damn boat, now, wondering if the last nine months had been some sort of sick payback for the three he himself had been gone.

All of that, however, stopped mattering the moment Ryoken started to take in the sight before him.

The boy in front of him certainly looked a little worse for wear; his hair looked like it hadn't been brushed at all since the last time they had seen each other and his clothes were wrinkled and almost looked too small, as if Yusaku had barely eaten anything despite how long it had been.

For a moment, Ryoken was unsure of what to do. It had taken him several blinks to process the fact that he wasn't hallucinating, that Yusaku was really and truly standing in front of him at that moment. They weren't too far off from Cafe Nagi's usual place in Den City's center, and Ryoken dutifully ignored the pang in his chest when he realized that this meeting might have been a total and complete accident.

"Yusaku," came his strangled greeting after realizing that they'd been staring at each other for far too long. Ryoken had never actually called him only his first name before, but that thought was gone out of his mind the moment it came in. "_Yusaku_. You're back."

It was a bit pathetic, Ryoken knew, that he couldn't say anything more meaningful, more profound. For the past nine months he'd been waiting, searching for this boy; pretending that he didn't miss him or dream of him day in and day out. The only people, likely, who had come to the correct conclusions about his true feelings were Spectre and, begrudgingly, Homura Takeru, who in the past nine months had found himself on the receiving ends of Ryoken's phone calls more times than either of them would ever care to admit.

That didn't matter, though. Not when Yusaku was standing in front of him, taking him in the very same way he himself had done.

Yusaku nodded stiffly. "Ryoken," he said, voice weak from disuse. Slowly, his lips turned upward into a smile - it was small, but Ryoken was struck by the beauty of it. "I found him. We're home."

* * *

Being anywhere in person still felt odd, but Yusaku knew that the feeling was only exacerbated by the fact that he was in Ryoken's mansion on Stardust Road for the first time since the Tower of Hanoi.

Originally, Yusaku's plan had been to go straight to Cafe Nagi to let Kusanagi know he was safe. Tracking down Ryoken was high on his priority list, but the older Kusanagi had always been Yusaku's ally throughout his years as Playmaker. Even after his brother was involved in the mess, Kusanagi continued to support Yusaku during the aftermath of Ai's defection, and even before that; keeping him employed at Cafe Nagi and making sure he was eating and going to school regularly.

He didn't regret leaving to find Ai, or refusing to come home or even so much as contact anyone until he had found his partner, but part of Yusaku felt bad about how worried he must've made… well, everyone.

Seeing Ryoken drop all pretenses as soon as they had their accidental meeting was proof enough of that. It almost felt like fate, as much as Yusaku loathed the word, that the first person he'd run into was none other than Ryoken.

The fragmented AI on his wrist was being oddly quiet, but it was honestly a blessing in that moment. Yusaku's throat hurt from talking to Ryoken for so long, and the older boy was obviously taking his time to process everything that he'd said. It was understandable - it was nine months worth of information, all filed down as neatly as Yusaku could, to make it easier on both he and Ryoken.

Yusaku had never really been much for words, but he knew he owed Ryoken - everyone, really - an explanation of what had happened. If it came at the cost of his throat being raw for the next week, so be it.

After a few long moments, Ryoken finally sighed, turning around from the sunset in the window to face Yusaku head on. "I would've helped you, you know," he finally said, words as heavy as Yusaku's heart felt. "I would've searched with you. The Knights, Kusanagi, we all would have."

It wasn't anything Yusaku didn't already know. Well, almost. "You _left_," Yusaku replied, tone only slightly accusatory. While Ryoken _had _said farewell that night, he had a feeling that he hadn't ever really intended for it to be permanent. Not like Yusaku would've let him make it that way, anyways.

Ryoken ran a hand through his hair in a way Yusaku had never seen before. He'd seen Ryoken in all sorts of moods, but he almost seemed… _frustrated_, almost as if it were himself he was mad at.

"_I would have helped_," he repeated, frowning deeply. "And back then, I was…" Ryoken trailed off, looking away from Yusaku once more. Yusaku had never been good at social interaction, never been good at _people _but even he could tell the air around them was growing thicker by the minute.

"You were what?" Yusaku prompted, coughing a bit as he did so. The eyeball on his duel disk looked at him curiously, but he shook his head quickly. It was hard to not feel bad, but at the same time, it was hard to feel connected to the AI when he knew it wasn't fully _Ai_ yet. "You were what, Ryoken?"

Truthfully, Yusaku didn't know what he should be expecting, or if he was expecting anything. Back before Ai had left, he'd been well aware of his growing feelings for the older boy. It was hard for him not to be, when they were finally working together and talking on a regular basis. It wasn't quite what he had dreamed of to get by as a kid; hurt and alone after the Lost Incident had stripped him of any hope he had at connecting with others.

But those feelings were his own. After ten long years of not knowing if the other boy was _okay_, nine months hadn't done much to repress Yusaku's feelings at all. In comparison to the previous decade, it was almost like a blink of an eye. Ryoken had always been a part of Yusaku's life in some way, and almost a year's worth of distance and no contact wouldn't change that.

Ryoken breathed sharply through his nose, shaking his head. "Forget it. It doesn't matter," he said, sounding defeated. "I would have helped, Yusaku. You didn't have to…" He trailed off again, and once again turned his gaze back onto Yusaku. "You didn't have to do that _alone_."

Though he knew it was rude, Yusaku couldn't help the snort. Coming from Ryoken, that could almost be taken like a sick joke - so much of their last duel was Yusaku letting Ryoken know he didn't have to be alone, and he had responded to that by leaving on his boat without a trace for three months.

Ryoken's eyes told Yusaku everything, however. The guilt he faced over everything, still, and how he understood his hypocrisy but was trying to be _better _was as clear as day. In the back of his mind, Yusaku was proud. Any frustration he might have felt seeped out of him the instant he realized that Ryoken was being serious.

"Thank you," Yusaku said, as genuine as he could make his scratchy voice sound. The fact that this boy would've once again dropped everything to help him made his heart beat so loudly he swore both Ryoken and Ai could hear it. "But it's alright. I didn't need you to. This was something I had to do on my own."

A long silence overcame them, but Yusaku was alright with that. Nine months - no, over _ten years _worth of feelings and desperation were finally starting to bubble to the surface, and he understood it wouldn't be a clean or easy conversation. Nothing between them ever was, really.

After what felt like hours, Ryoken broke first. "Promise me," Ryoken said, and Yusaku blinked in very nearly the same way Ai had at the same words earlier that week. "Promise me you won't do something that stupid again." _Promise me you won't leave like that again _were the words hidden under what he'd said, but Yusaku didn't miss them.

Yusaku hadn't felt like he'd missed a lot until that very moment. The weight of the entire conversation came crashing down on him, then, as he realized how much Ryoken had really grown in his absence. No longer was he the guarded boy, trying to figure out his place in the world after his father's death. No, that boy had grown, and Yusaku's heart both hurt and swelled at the realization.

He had so much more to catch up on then he thought, it seemed. He had been stupid for thinking everyone else would've been frozen in time, the same way he had been, for the better part of a year. _Of course _things had changed. _Of course _the people around him had grown, had moved on, had become better versions of themselves, while he had not.

Nine months wasn't a terribly long time in the grand scheme of things, but it wasn't anything to scoff at.

Smiling again, though it felt unnatural to do so, Yusaku nodded. "I won't," he promised, trying his best not to cough over his own words. "I won't leave again, Ryoken."

And for the first time since they'd reunited, Ryoken smiled back.

* * *

**Notes**

Hopefully you all liked this! I'm a bit out of sorts IRL so writing hasn't been coming to me as easily as I would like it to;; That said, thank you, as always, for reading! I hope you all had good holidays, and you will see me around again soon for the next chapter of _link restart_!


End file.
